Dragon: A Decade in Limbo
by Madame Estrella
Summary: In the darkness of his existence there was a glimmer of hope.
1. Dragon House

Category: K  
  
Rating: R Spoilers: Up to School Daze Summary: In the darkness of his existence there was a glimmer of hope. Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters and am just playing around with them.  
  
Beta Read by my cat Poofy.  
  
Dragon: A Decade in Limbo  
By Madame Estrella  
  
Dragon House  
  
A young boy sat in the SL-27 Sim lab writing in a blue notebook. He looked up as a balding man in a dark gray suit entered the room and approached the boy. He picked up the notebook and thumbed through the pages, looking over the boy's work.  
  
"Very good." The man said and then he backhanded the boy across the face. The boy recoiled and tenderly touched his face while glaring at the old man.  
  
"I'm taking you to the Dragon House." The man said. The boy nodded his head.  
  
"I feel safe there." The boy replied.  
  
"And you always will." The man replied.  
  
The boy rode in the back of the black town car with the man for hours. He gazed out the windows as they passed through the serene landscape. It had been very bright at first, but once the boy's eyes had adjusted to the light, he took in every feature.  
  
They arrived at the large white mansion. Around the roof of the porch jutted ornate wooden dragons. The boy fixated on them with his light blue eyes. The man led him into the house where the boy was free to wander the home and the yard, but always under supervision.  
  
The sweepers never talked to the boy, except to tell him what not to do or touch or when to go inside. Only the man talked to him, and only he really listened. Except for when the little girl came to visit.  
  
As the boy aged, his wonderment diminished. He grew cold inside and began to view the world from a dark, pessimistic standpoint. He didn't care about what others thought, or believed. He was right, and only what he believed truly mattered.  
  
In whispered confidence, he found meaning in his dismal existence, which became his sole focus in life.  
  
Then one day, the boy ran away.  
  
To Be Continued.  
  
Feedback is Welcome!  
  
melvansickle@earthlink.net 


	2. From The Sky

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters and am just playing around with them.  
  
Beta Read by my cat Poofy.  
  
From The Sky  
  
A young, unidentified man stood in chains in the courtroom of Judge Alan Schmidt. His court-appointed attorney stood beside him. The prisoner was in his mid twenties, if they had to guess, when he was captured by the police for the kidnapping of Harriet Tashman.  
  
"How do you plead?" Judge Schmidt asked, eyeing the prisoner coldly. His lawyer cleared his throat and looked at his client uncertainly. The young man only looked at his hands and rubbed the scar between his right thumb and forefinger.  
  
"Guilty." His lawyer replied.  
  
Judge Schmidt noticed the look of pure jubilation on the prosecutor's face and then continued to glare at the prisoner. The prosecutor set the State's terms of sentencing for the young man standing before him.  
  
Life imprisonment. This man didn't deserve anything else. As Judge Schmidt looked at him he saw no remorse. This man could care less, and that was the thing about him that was more frightening than any other. He stood there, with his shoulders back, setting his jaw and staring at the judge defiantly.  
  
By all accounts, the man had just fallen from the sky. No birth certificate, no fingerprints on record, and no social security number. No family, not even a name. According to every record, this man did not exist until a few months before and that was at the beginning of his long cross- country run of violent felonies.  
  
When he'd terrorized and kidnapped Harriet Tashman, she'd had it in her to wreck the car he forced her to drive which led to his capture. Prior to that he'd committed armed robberies, multiple acts of arson, as well as assault with a deadly weapon.  
  
His crimes had all seemed like random, sporadic acts of violence. Then, he'd made a directive of sending threatening letters and making threatening phone calls to the former nun who lived quietly in her apartment in Upstate New York.  
  
This man was no better than an animal. He'd fought with the arresting officers and guards at the holding facility. One hapless soul who'd brought this man food wound up in the hospital weeks earlier soiling himself and crying for his mother.  
  
But there was something behind his eyes. Judge Schmidt had looked into them and seen the coldness within. This man was very dangerous, and since it was up to him, this man would never again see the light of day.  
  
He ordered life imprisonment. The prisoner didn't look surprised. The only time the young man's expression had changed was when he was led past an old man who stood, holding an oxygen tank by the handle in his right hand. Judge Schmidt would remember the hatred in that expression for the rest of his days.  
  
To Be Continued.  
  
Feedback is Welcome!  
  
melvansickle@earthlink.net 


	3. Got a Light?

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters and am just playing around with them.  
  
Beta Read by my cat Poofy.  
  
Got a Light?  
  
Louie and Harold led their new prisoner to his cell. The man did not struggle. He went quietly, calmly to his new home. This unsettled Louie. The middle aged Italian guard had handled hundreds of prisoners in his time working at Fort Rexford. This man obviously had some plan; otherwise he would have been more trouble. They had dragged men kicking and screaming to their cells for the first time for far less severe crimes than this man had been convicted of.  
  
Once inside his cell, they unshackled the man and closed the door to his cell. Louie watched him take a seat on his bunk and stare at the wall before him. Louie shook his head and walked away.  
  
But he'd returned, many times that day. Each time, prisoner 786114 sat on his bunk, looking at the cell. Studying it. Louie figured that the man had the rest of his life to study those walls and knew he was up to something.  
  
Hours later, Louie was about to get off-shift. He made one last trip to his new charge's cell at the end of the high maximum-security corridor and stopped at his side of the bars.  
  
"Hey you." He called calmly. The man looked at him and stood. He approached the bars slowly until he faced the guard.  
  
"You smoke?" Louie asked and held out a cigarette. The prisoner looked at the cigarette and took it from him. He rolled it in his fingers and looked up at Louie curiously.  
  
Louie struck a match and held it to the bars. The other man put the cigarette in his mouth and leaned close to light it. Louie quickly extinguished the match and stepped away from the cell.  
  
The man inhaled and then began to cough as he pulled the cigarette from his mouth. He looked up at Louie angrily and Louie smiled a little.  
  
"You'll get used to it, kid." He said.  
  
The other man put the cigarette back into his mouth and then sat back down on his bunk.  
  
"Hey, kid. What should I call you?" Louie asked. The other man took the cigarette from his mouth and looked at Louie contemplatively.  
  
"D.B. Cooper." Prisoner 786114 replied with a sneer. Louie snorted in laughter and shook his head.  
  
"I think I'll just call you John Doe." Louie said and then he turned and headed for the time clock.  
  
To Be Continued.  
  
Feedback is Welcome!  
  
melvansickle@earthlink.net 


	4. Wheezy

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters and am just playing around with them.  
  
Beta Read by my cat Susie-Bean.  
  
Wheezy  
  
The guards on duty that day all watched the old man drag his oxygen tank toward the visitation area. "Doctor Wheezy," as Louie had dubbed him the first time he'd arrived, was there to visit his favorite, and only, patient.  
  
Louie didn't like the guy. Not only was he creepy, but disrespectful as well. He addressed the guards contemptuously, as if they were all beneath him. He glared at Louie as he walked past him, and then sat across from John Doe.  
  
"Do you mind?" The old man asked in a low voice, a near growl, looking back at Louie.  
  
Louie turned and walked out the door, locking it once he got outside. From time to time he gazed back through the glass to watch the two men talk.  
  
Wheezy was a psychiatrist. Louie didn't know if he was court appointed, since the man came all the way from Delaware to visit Doe. Perhaps he was like the rest of them, curious to crack Doe and get inside the mysterious man's mind to discover what secrets hid within.  
  
Louie would give anything to eavesdrop just once. Well, maybe not anything, but at least half a week's paycheck. He wanted to know what they talked about in that room. He wanted to hear if Doe would say anything other than the insane stories he told Louie as he stood outside his cell.  
  
"So, what did you do before you ended up in here?" Louie had asked the first time he'd heard one of Doe's fairy tales.  
  
"I'm an aeronautical engineer." The man replied seriously.  
  
"Is that so?" Louie said in disbelief. "What exactly do you engineer then?"  
  
"I was working on a new propulsion system for the space shuttle." He replied.  
  
Doe went into a lot of technical mumbo jumbo that went right over the career guard's head. Louie listened as the man explained and described all the aspects of his research and the preliminary testing failures and successes.  
  
Later, Louie shared some of Doe's story with the other guards and they stared at him with the same disbelief he'd had listening to the story himself. They laughed it off, saying that an aeronautical engineer wouldn't be capable of doing the things that Doe had been convicted of. Louie had shrugged his shoulders and suggested that maybe the pressure had just gotten to Doe and he'd snapped.  
  
A few days later, Louie returned to Doe's cell and asked him to tell him more about the new space engines. Doe had stared at him blankly and shook his head.  
  
"No, I'm a concert pianist." He'd said in response and then had launched into a tale about his exploits in the world of music.  
  
At that point, Louie had decided that Doe was an accomplished liar and was just screwing with him. He even said that he heard voices in his head that told him what he was. He listened to Doe spin yarns about what he supposedly did, only to change his mind as time passed.  
  
When the doctor's time was up, Louie and Harold returned Doe to his cell. They closed the door and as always Doe had pulled a notebook seemingly out of thin air and was scribbling in it furiously. Doe was oblivious to anyone when he was writing in his notebook.  
  
Louie had looked for it during routine cell inspections, but could never find it. He decided that it was Doe's journal. He itched to read what it said, but he could never make out the words.  
  
Louie made a passing glance over the rest of the cell, at the pictures the prisoner had drawn and then at the man himself. If he waited long enough, eventually Doe would give up some of his secrets.  
  
To Be Continued.  
  
Feedback is Welcome!  
  
melvansickle@earthlink.net 


	5. Prisoner 786114

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters and am just playing around with them.  
  
Beta Read by my cat Susie-Bean.  
  
Prisoner 786114  
  
Prisoner 786114 gasped before sitting up on his bunk as he woke, his muscles tensed, looking about wildly. Sweat glistened in the moonlight as it rolled down the man's face and he wiped at it with his hand, not noticing the old scar on his right hand. He'd had another nightmare, which were occurring more frequently in recent times.  
  
He looked at the mirror on the wall across from his bunk and saw his pale, haggard image looking back at him. He inhaled a deep breath and held it for a few moments before slowly releasing it, calming himself.  
  
He pulled a cigarette from the pack and lit one, taking a long drag as the nicotine began to do its job and steady his nerves. He looked up at the tiny window of his cell and saw a three quarter moon through the bars.  
  
Kyle had never had a window at the Centre. He'd had one at the Dragon House. Now, he had one in his cell, where he would spend the rest of his natural life.  
  
Once he had broken from the Centre, Kyle knew they would do everything in their power to recapture him. They had succeeded. Cell Block D Cell 118 at Fort Rexford State Penitentiary was Sublevel 27 with a view.  
  
He had company though. All day he heard the other prisoners talking and yelling and fighting and everything else. All the noise blended together eventually and it was easier to ignore that way. At night, he could hear them snore and talk to each other, or themselves.  
  
He hated it there. But he hated it far, far less than he had hated the Centre. The food was better, he could go outside, and he didn't have to perform simulations. The guards weren't anything like the sweepers either. They treated him like he was a real person.  
  
He lay back on his bunk. It was hard, but it was similar to the one's he'd slept on for as far back as he could remember. Except for at the Dragon House. The Dragon House had been an escape from the darkness of the depths of the Centre. The air was fresh and the smells were pleasant. He had felt more alive there. He had known her then.  
  
Visions of his nightmare returned to him. The young boy clawing at the door in the pitch-black room until his fingers bled. Sounds of crying and screaming from the others locked in their purgatory that was Sublevel 27. Then there were the voices, which spoke endlessly.  
  
Kyle gave up on sleep and walked to his small sink and splashed cold water on his face. He looked up out the window and then out the barred wall of his cell. He would find a way out of this place.  
  
To Be Continued.  
  
Feedback is Welcome!  
  
melvansickle@earthlink.net 


	6. Annie

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters and am just playing around with them.  
  
Beta Read by my cat Jerry.  
  
Annie  
  
The sound of footfalls filled his ears on the cool April afternoon long before he saw who made them. He didn't have to look to know who it was, for there was only one person who would come around the house that way to see him. His heart raced with nervousness and excitement as he anticipated her arrival. He focused on his notebook and what he was writing, trying not to appear like he noticed the approaching visitor. He wasn't supposed to talk to her anyway.  
  
"Kyle." The young woman called as she walked through the tall, glass French doors leading to the patio. Her footfalls were more pronounced on the dark marble floor. She'd just arrived with her mother, just like all the other times. Kyle eyed her warily from where he sat before returning his gaze to his work.  
  
"Hi Annie." He said cautiously, before looking around for Raines or sweepers.  
  
Kyle had another friend at the Centre whom he wasn't supposed to talk with, Jarod. They'd found ways to talk to each other and see one another when they weren't running simulations and being watched. He'd been punished severely once his infarction was discovered. He could only imagine the punishment he'd be dealt if he were caught with Raines daughter.  
  
She had long, light brown hair, which framed her thin face and green eyes. She had a wistful smile and mischief in those eyes as she approached him and slid the notebook out from beneath his fingers. She glanced over it and frowned.  
  
She didn't like the things Raines made him do and he didn't understand why. She sighed and then looked back at him and smiled wan.  
  
"Do you want to go for a walk?" She smiled. Kyle lowered his gaze to his notebook and took it back.  
  
"I don't think that's a good idea." He replied. She rolled her eyes and grabbed the notebook from his hand and dropped it on the table. She took his hand and then tugged it until he reluctantly rose to his feet.  
  
He looked down at her face. He'd grown a little taller than her each time he saw her. She smiled and pulled him toward the doorway.  
  
"Come on." She said and he followed her.  
  
They walked across the porch and down the stairs to the yard. They crossed the yard to a clump of trees and bushes where Annie tugged at his wrist harder to lead him in. Once within the foliage Annie sat in the grass and yanked his wrist so that he would sit beside her.  
  
Kyle looked about for sweepers and Annie rolled her eyes at him before she grabbed his pale face in her hands. She turned his head to face him and giggled a little before she began to kiss him.  
  
He'd loved Annie. All he had of her were his memories, dreams, and her voice within him. She'd made him happy. She'd shown him that he could care about someone.  
  
Kyle sat in his cell and gazed at a picture he'd drawn of the long dead girl he'd cared so much for. She'd been gone for ten years.  
  
He knew deep inside that he'd been responsible for her death. She died ten days after the sweepers had discovered them together. He carried the guilt within him and turned that guilt and hurt to rage when he needed it.  
  
She'd given him hope before she was taken from him forever. He remembered lying with her, the smell of her hair and the soft touch of her skin as she weaved fantastic tales.  
  
"I'm going to get my license and then I'm going to take you from this place." She'd smiled. Kyle shook his head.  
  
"They won't let me go. Besides, where would we go?" He said and then had stroked her face. She beamed at him.  
  
"We could go and find your family." She said cheerfully. He shook his head.  
  
"I don't have any family, my parents died." He'd said defensively.  
  
"Yes you do. My mother told me you do. She said they were still alive. She even told me how to get to them." She'd gushed. She kissed him as he looked at her in bewilderment. He'd pulled her close and kissed her again.  
  
That was when the sweepers had come. They'd dragged the two of them back into the Dragon House where Raines beat him. He never saw Annie again. He was told two weeks later, in the depths of the Centre, that she'd been murdered.  
  
He blamed himself, but he also blamed Raines. He'd learned not to put his faith in a man so evil that he'd murdered his own child. When Raines came to visit him, he always resented what he'd seen of the man in his daughter.  
  
He breathed a heavy sigh and ran his thumb over the face in the drawing before he hung it on the wall over his bunk where he could always see her.  
  
To Be Continued.  
  
Feedback is Welcome!  
  
melvansickle@earthlink.net 


	7. Hey Pretty

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters and am just playing around with them. Beta Read by my cat Jerry.  
  
Hey Pretty  
  
Enrique Consuelo approached Kyle in the laundry room. "Hey pretty, want to take a ride on my love machime?" He grinned widely.  
  
Kyle looked at the man. He was as tall as Kyle and very well built. He'd heard the stories of these things happening to other inmates, but had never been propositioned before.  
  
"No thanks." Kyle said and tried to walk past him. Enrique grabbed his arm.  
  
"Oh, I don' do no thanks, pretty." Enrique said, tightening his grip on Kyle's arm. Kyle glared at him and tried to yank his arm away. Two of Enrique's friends moved in and Kyle was surrounded. He sized them up and looked toward the door and tried to judge the distance.  
  
"My name isn't pretty." Kyle said and swung at the man. Enrique let go of his arm and tried to block the blow, which caught him squarely on the jaw. Kyle tried to swing again and was grabbed from behind as a blow was dealt to the back of his head. Someone grabbed his hair and yanked his head back and he saw Enrique smile before his fist found home.  
  
They took turns holding him as the others beat him. Their laughter filled him with rage as he tried to fight back. In the end they were too strong for him and he sank to the ground and Enrique kicked him in the stomach and laughed.  
  
"I'm gone make you my bitch!" He cheered gleefully as he kicked Kyle in the stomach again.  
  
"Get him back up!" Enrique yelled and two sets of arms grabbed Kyle's and he was pulled to his feet. Enrique and the others continued to beat him.  
  
"Stop!" A distant voice cried. Kyle looked into that direction and reached out with his hand as he heard the sound of the guards' running footfalls.  
  
He was hit three more times before he blacked out. To Be Continued... Feedback is Welcome! melvansickle@earthlink.net 


	8. How Many?

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters and am just playing around with them.  
  
How Many?  
  
He smelled the perfume before looking up at the fuzzy figure before him. Why was there a woman here? He inhaled the scent and looked at the extended hand in a daze.  
  
"How many fingers am I holding up?" A woman's voice asked. Kyle looked back down at his hands in his lap and a guard nudged him with a baton. He looked back up at the woman's hand. He squinted and tried to focus.  
  
"Four." He said. When he heard her sigh, he knew it was the wrong answer.  
  
"They really beat the shit out of you." She said in a resigned tone.  
  
He winced as he felt the alcohol swab on the cut on his face. He tried to jerk back but was nudged harder with the baton.  
  
"You're going to need stitches." She said. "This is going to sting like a bitch."  
  
He felt the syringe and the burn as she injected the local anesthetic. A few minutes later she began stitching up the cut.  
  
"I need some ice packs." She said.  
  
"Who, me?" The guard asked.  
  
"Yes you." She replied. "They're in the freezer in the other room."  
  
"I can't leave him here alone with you!" The guard exclaimed.  
  
"He's not going anywhere!" She yelled. "My patient needs proper care, now go get those damn ice packs!" Kyle heard the guard leave. He began to contemplate an escape. He was alone with a woman, a small woman and the guard was gone.  
  
The doctor began to place steri-strips on the cuts on his face. At one point she stopped and leaned close to him. She spoke, her mouth inches from his ear. He inhaled her perfume.  
  
"They won't leave you alone now. The other prisoners have seen you down and they are going to keep after you. You need to go out there and really fuck someone up so they'll let you be." She said.  
  
She moved back and he stared at her fuzzy visage with surprise. "I know how these things are, John." She said as she applied another strip. "You can keep fighting them and they'll eventually kill you. Or, you can change it all now."  
  
Kyle nodded and slightly tugged his cuffed hands. He grabbed his left thumb and before he could dislocate it the guard returned. The guard handed the doctor the ice packs. She took one and placed it against the swollen bruise on the back of his head.  
  
She made quick work of the rest and Kyle was taken to an infirmary holding cell. Louie stood outside the cell.  
  
"Beautiful isn't she?" Louie asked as Kyle sat on his bunk holding the ice pack to his head. Kyle looked up at the guard.  
  
"I didn't notice." He replied. Louie raised his eyebrows in surprise.  
  
"I was sure that after two years in this place that you'd appreciate seeing a woman." Louie replied.  
  
Kyle lay on the bunk and ignored the rest of what the guard had to say. Louie obviously held this woman in high regard for whatever reasons.  
  
He hadn't really seen her. His vision was still blurred from his concussion. He'd taken quite a severe beating but had certainly avoided a much worse fate.  
  
The first woman he'd seen in two years and he hadn't seen her at all. Not that it mattered. That was something he would never have in this life, unless he escaped. He closed his eyes and remembered the scent of her perfume. It had also been Annie's.  
  
He glanced about the small cell. The infirmary was located in the old cell house. He'd heard stories from some of the prisoners who'd been housed here before the new cell houses were built. Compared to the new ones, this cell house was inferior, and many escapes had been performed.  
  
His best opportunity would be from the infirmary. The doctors were complacent and the guard station was understaffed. He closed his eyes to force sleep to come. When his concussion was gone and his mind was clear, he would be able to make his plan. To Be Continued... Feedback is Welcome! melvansickle@earthlink.net 


	9. To Spite Your Face

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters and am just playing around with them.  
  
To Spite Your Face  
  
Kyle walked into the cafeteria for the first time in a week. He took his tray and then sat at a table by himself. He felt his pulse race when he heard Enrique's voice behind him.  
  
"Hey pretty. Look it's my pretty, all better and back to play some more." Enrique chided. Kyle held his breath to calm himself. One-day death would visit upon Enrique Consuelo, but it was not that day.  
  
"Keep it going." Louie said as he nudged Enrique with his baton. Howie Willow sat down across from Kyle and grinned at him.  
  
"So, you can't take a punch, eh?" The older man said. "I thought you was a Nancy Boy the day they brought you in here."  
  
Having had enough, Kyle threw down his fork and grabbed the man across the table. He yanked the man forward and lunged for him. He sank his teeth into the flesh around the man's nose and tore at it, moving his head from side to side.  
  
Blood spurted and the man screamed and within seconds two guards were behind Kyle, trying to pull him off the man. One hit him with a baton as a third guard grabbed the other man and began to pull him from behind.  
  
They pulled the men apart, Kyle tearing the man's nose off in the process. He spat the part onto the floor and chuckled, smiling evilly at the man whose blood dripped from his face.  
  
The prisoners stood about them in stunned silence as they dragged Kyle from the room. One man turned to Enrique as the medics came in to treat the bleeding man who reached for his nose on the floor.  
  
"That could have been your dick." The man laughed and Enrique shoved him and walked away.  
  
Kyle was dragged to Cell Block F and to the solitary confinement cells. The guards threw him into one of the cells. He climbed to his feet and when he was the look on Hendricks face, he knew the guard wasn't finished.  
  
"Why in the hell did you do that? You bit his nose clean off!" Hendricks asked coldly. Kyle chuckled darkly.  
  
"I didn't like the way he used it to look down on me." Kyle replied.  
  
"I suppose you thought that was funny, eh Doe?" Hendricks, a tall, blonde guard sneered. He pulled his baton from his belt and hit Kyle in the stomach. Kyle doubled over and Hendricks hit him across his back. Kyle sunk to his knees and Hendricks hit him once more, on the back of his head, before he turned and left the cell and slammed the door behind him.  
  
Kyle lay on the floor a while. It was dark in the quiet cell. The whole cellblock was eerily silent. Kyle wiped the drying blood off of his face with his sleeve and slowly climbed onto the bunk where he lay down.  
  
Hours would pass before the lights went out in the dimly lit cell. When they did, his worst nightmares returned. So did the voices. To Be Continued... Feedback is Welcome! melvansickle@earthlink.net 


	10. Voices

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters and am just playing around with them.  
  
Voices  
  
The darkness was familiar to him. It had consumed him for most of his life. In his room on SL-27 he'd sat in the dark and thought of ways to escape. He'd spent hours trying to claw his way out through the door until deep grooves were worn into the wood and his fingertips were torn and bloody.  
  
The dark had never been his friend but it was somehow a part of him. He still hated it all the same.  
  
He'd first been plunged into the depths of SL-27 after his friendship with Jarod had been discovered. He was carried away from his room kicking and screaming. He fought the men all the way to his new 'home' where he would remain until it was destroyed in the fire.  
  
"Do you know who you are?" Jarod had asked him. He hadn't known the answer to the boy's question. As time passed, what little feeling of identity he'd retained from keeping the flying cross he'd been given had faded once he'd lost it.  
  
Soon he was only Kyle, and he decided who lived or died.  
  
There were others on SL-27. He rarely saw them. Mostly their whispers carried in the still night air, as the sweepers dared not tread on this level. Kyle remembered one sweeper saying once it was eerie and felt like it was haunted.  
  
Kyle wasn't supposed to hear that comment, but it was true. SL-27 was haunted by the boys who were kept in isolation in the darkness. Much as he was now.  
  
He mostly remembered the voice in the air vent. The one that belonged to Angelo. Angelo would visit him and the others. The others he had met were Timmy, Dannie and Alex.  
  
He hadn't known Timmy for long. Timmy had vanished and had been replaced by Angelo. Much as Dannie had Einnad, only unlike them, no trace of Timmy was left behind.  
  
What remained was Angelo who could feel what he felt although he couldn't express himself as well as the others. But Kyle could hide nothing from Angelo. Not even Annie. When Annie had died it was Angelo who had told him. Much like he would tell Kyle about Harriet Tashman years later.  
  
He'd been in the dark, although not alone in the dark. The voices had always been there and they remained still. They filled his ears with whispers. They told him what to become next. They told him what he didn't see or hear with his eyes and ears alone.  
  
He decided he no longer wished to be a whisper in the darkness of this place or any other.  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
Feedback is Welcome!  
  
melvansickleearthlink.net 


	11. Houdini

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters and am just playing around with them.  
  
Houdini  
  
Kyle stood and placed his hands behind his head as the guards entered the cell. He'd been in this cell for two weeks. He was ready to get out.  
  
The guards cuffed him and he brought hi hands down in front of him. As they began to secure the belt around his waist for the belly chain he unlatched the handcuffs and dropped them on the floor before turning around.  
  
The look of surprise on the guards faces almost made it all worth it. Almost. Hendricks drew his nightstick and another guard darted out of the cell and called down the corridor for a lockdown.  
  
Kyle stood straight and faced Hendricks. He turned his back to him and placed his hands behind his head. He squeezed his eyes shut in anticipation. Hendricks would bite, and he did.  
  
Kyle sunk to his knees after the first blow. He tried to stand and was hit once again.  
  
"I'll bet you think this is funny too." Hendricks growled as he stepped around Kyle to look at his face.  
  
Kyle rolled to one side and looked up at the guard before he narrowed his eyes and grinned at the man.  
  
"I think it's hysterical." Kyle said and forced a laugh that was cut short by a kick to his stomach, courtesy of the meanest son-of-a-bitch to ever wear the guards uniform at Fort Rexford.  
  
Kyle wheezed and couldn't catch his breath. He held a hand up in defense and Hendricks kicked him again. Kyle gasped desperately and was aware of the blow dealt to him with the nightstick.  
  
Aware, but it didn't concern him. He couldn't breathe. He touched his throat with his hand weakly and saw black spots in his vision. He direly tried to suck in another breath and he felt one he hadn't been aware he had escape. It was a frightening sound.  
  
"Kyle, why is there foam in the lungs of a drowning victim?" Raines asked the young boy who stood over a body on a cold slab, examining the lung.  
  
"Because of residual breath." Kyle replied. "Residual breath is the air that is left over after the tidal breath of normal respiration has been exhaled. It is a small amount but enough to make a froth when the water on inspiration upon drowning is mixed with the residual air and mucus."  
  
Drowning outside of water was the second most frightening feeling he would have in his life. Kyle gasped again and lost consciousness.  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
Feedback is Welcome!  
  
melvansickleearthlink.net 


	12. Animal

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters and am just playing around with them.  
  
Animal  
  
"Are you kidding me?" The doctor cried as she stared disbelievingly at Warden Halloway.  
  
"Do you have a problem with my decision, Doctor Brookes?" The slight man in his fifties with graying hair asked.  
  
"Your so-called guards have had free reign of this prison for far too long! They are abusing the inmates and their authority! If you don't want a riot on your hands I'd suggest you start cracking down on these goons. By giving Hendricks a slap on the wrist and a few days off, you're only condoning his behavior." Doctor Brookes said in angered dismay.  
  
"He was out of the restraints, we put him back in them. John Doe is an animal, he deserved to be treated like one." Hendricks smirked from his seat. The doctor glared at him in a way that made him look away.  
  
"Doe almost died! If I see one more inmate in the condition John Doe was, I'll have the police and the human rights folks in here before you put your baton away." She snapped at the guard who didn't look back at her. "I saw the surveillance footage, Hendricks, it wasn't self-defense."  
  
"He had no remorse for what he did to Howie Willow. Do you remember him, Doctor Brookes? The guy who's nose you had to sew back on while we waited for the paramedics to get here?" Hendricks shot back at her. "And a little bird told me that not a week before you said something to Doe in confidence. Did you make a deal with him? Did you want him to hurt Willow in exchange for ... a favor?"  
  
Doctor Brookes' pale complexion turned as red as her short hair. She glared at Hendricks with her green eyes and her lips trembled in anger.  
  
"What exactly are you accusing me of?" She snarled.  
  
"I'm saying that you aren't exactly the pinnacle of piety around here, Miss Brookes. You can deny it all you want, but I know you've been making friends in the population." Hendricks said with a sly smile on his face.  
  
"Bullshit!" She cried and got to her feet.  
  
"Doctor Brookes sit down!" Halloway said slamming his fist on his desk. She gazed at him for a moment before she took her seat.  
  
"What do you think these prisoners would do to you if we weren't around to keep and eye on you, Miss Brookes? Maybe you should keep a check on that temper, Doctor, or you'll end up like your old man." Hendricks said coldly.  
  
She turned back to him and squeezed her trembling lips together and then looked back at the warden.  
  
"Warden?" She said, her voice wavering. He nodded and she shot up from her seat, nearly knocking it over.  
  
"Prisoners have rights." She said. "And I don't agree with you Hendricks. I don't think John Doe is crazy. I think he's smart. I also think he's just biding his time here. He obviously only dropped those cuffs to demonstrate that to you. When he decides that he wants out of here, I don't think that any one of you will be able to stop him." She spat and then turned on her heel and marched out of the office.  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
Feedback is Welcome!  
  
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	13. First Attempt

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters and am just playing around with them.  
  
First Attempt  
  
Tuesday afternoon, months after he was released from solitary, Kyle stood in front of a machine in the plate shop. He had been amusing himself for a few weeks, cleverly working expletives into the plate codes. None of the guards could trace the plates back to the inmate who had made them, and Kyle secretly hoped his plates would end up on someone's vehicle.  
  
He watched the guards pass once more before he leveled a piece of metal in a lathe and watched it take off as the spindle propelled it from the machine. The metal piece came within inches of hitting Harry Wright, a heavy set and foul tempered bank robber who whirled about to glare at Kyle. Kyle grinned and stifled a laugh.  
  
"You think that was funny you fuckin' nut job?" He growled. He came running at Kyle and Kyle took a dive, and allowed the man to get hold of him.  
  
Harry grabbed Kyle by the throat and punched him in the face. He allowed the man a few more hits before the guards reached them. Kyle threw a punch over Harry's shoulder that connected with one of the guards. In retribution, he was cracked over the head with a baton and the lights went out.  
  
Sometime later he slowly opened his eyes. He looked about groggily and realized he was where he'd intended to be. The infirmary. He looked at the bars and saw the orderly look at him and motion toward someone outside of his field of view.  
  
The doctor who'd treated him previously appeared with a guard. The guard opened the cell door and she entered and the guard followed. She sat in a chair across from him and pulled it closer to the bunk.  
  
"If we keep meeting like this, then people will talk." She deadpanned as she pulled on a pair of latex gloves. The guard moved his hand to the baton handle and kept his gaze fixed on Kyle.  
  
She pulled a small penlight from her coat and opened his right eyelid with her left hand and shone the light into it. She did the same with his left eye. She sighed as she put the light away and looked back at him.  
  
"Well you're not going to die, this time." She said evenly. "Keep these antics up though and someone's going to end up sending you off to a potter's field."  
  
"I'll end up there either way." He replied. She raised her eyebrows and nodded.  
  
"Yeah, I suppose you will." She said.  
  
When evening came, the artificial lights in the observation cells flickered off and Kyle made his move. He crouched onto his knees on the floor and when the orderly came walking past he stuck his finger in his throat and made himself vomit and then threw himself against the floor and began to convulse.  
  
The orderly stared frozen in shock for a few moments before he turned to the guard station and called out.  
  
"Hey! Hey! I think we have a seizure in 112!" He shouted and then pulled out his keys and threw open the door to the observation cell. He rushed inside and crouched beside Kyle who then sat up and grabbed the orderly. He threw the man into the wall and knocked him out before grabbing the man's keys and baton.  
  
When the guard arrived he swung the baton and knocked the wind out of the man. As the guard doubled over Kyle cracked the baton across the back of the guard's head and then grabbed his keys. He left the cell and slammed the door shut.  
  
He headed to the other observation cells and freed the others who began to run for the door. Just before the first one reached it, the doctor walked into the corridor from the other end and shouted. All heads whirled about to see the woman as she hit the alarm button on the wall and shouted to the guards behind her who ran down the corridor after the prisoners.  
  
Kyle left the second guard lying on the floor before he joined the others running for the other door. Once he reached it and was about to step through into the hallway he heard a scream from behind him. He stopped as if caught by a wall and turned to look back.  
  
One of the prisoners had grabbed the doctor and threw her into the wall. She cried out and then screamed as the man drove a shiv into her side. He stabbed her several times before leaving her bleeding on the floor.  
  
Kyle watched the doctor lying on the floor as she pressed a hand against one of her bleeding wounds. He stepped back into the infirmary as the prisoner wiped off the knife and carelessly tossed it aside as he began to run toward Kyle, and the doorway leading out.  
  
The voices whispered in the back of his head, I decide who lives or dies. The boy he was stood over the slab with the drowning victim lying on it.  
  
"What is the cause of death, doctor?" Raines asked him as he hovered behind him.  
  
Kyle walked back into the infirmary and over toward the bleeding woman. She stared at him, wild eyed and terrified.  
  
"No! Stay away from me!" She shouted. Kyle grabbed gauze from the cart and knelt at her side.  
  
"It's okay, I'm a doctor." He said quietly. A look of horror washed over her face.  
  
"The hell you are!" She shouted and tried to push him away. He held some of the gauze against the worst of her wounds and applied pressure to stop the bleeding.  
  
The doctor relented and laid her head on the floor. One of the guards rushed up on them and grabbed Kyle.  
  
"Get away from her!" He cried and shoved Kyle back, hard. Kyle caught himself and broke his fall and turned back to the guard who knelt over the doctor.  
  
"Scott, let him help me, you don't know what the hell you're doing!" The doctor gasped and tried to sit up to look at Kyle while grabbing for the gauze to hold it against her side.  
  
The guard looked between the doctor and Kyle and moved away nodding to Kyle. Kyle got back into place and applied pressure against her wound again. He told the guard what to give him and worked to stop the bleeding as the woman on the floor began to lose consciousness.  
  
When the other guards arrived the guard called Scott held them back from the prisoner who tended to the doctor until the paramedics arrived.  
  
"You'd better hope she doesn't die." Scott said to him as the woman's eyes closed. It was the single thought that would occupy Kyle's mind for weeks after.  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
Feedback is Welcome!  
  
melvansickleearthlink.net 


	14. Inquiry

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters and am just playing around with them.  
  
Inquiry  
  
"So, why did you stab her?" The man on the left end of the panel of five asked Kyle as he stared back at the man defiantly. The man glanced to Kyle's right, and the man who sat beside him.  
  
"Your 'patient' is in a lot of trouble." The man stated firmly. "If the doctor dies then he could be up for a Federal death sentence."  
  
"There is no evidence to prove that my patient stabbed the doctor." Raines wheezed as he looked at Kyle who glanced back at him momentarily before folding his arms across his chest.  
  
"I have seven witnesses and the prisoner's own record of violence that would suggest otherwise." The man with the dark glasses shot back.  
  
"Seven witnesses who could very well have committed the stabbing themselves." Raines stated. "Seven witnesses who are trying to avoid a Federal death sentence themselves and who are relying on John Doe's past violence for him to take the fall."  
  
"But they all gave the same testimony." The man replied, growing angry.  
  
"I'm sure that in an institution such as this that there would be no way those men could have gotten their story straight before they spoke with your board." Raines said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "They're probably not angry in the least that they failed to reach freedom and are back in their own cells. However, John Doe was the only one who stopped to help the doctor."  
  
"An act of self preservation." The man replied. "He realized that the escape would be fruitless once the alarm had sounded and that if the doctor died by his hand then he would in turn die himself."  
  
"Do you have anything to say on your own behalf?" The woman in the middle asked Kyle. He sighed and dropped his hands into his lap and studied them.  
  
"You already knew that I would say that it wasn't me who stabbed her." Kyle said quietly, still staring at his hands.  
  
"Why did you help her then? Why did you give up your chance to escape?" She asked.  
  
"She didn't deserve to die." Kyle replied looking at Raines.  
  
"Why did you release the other prisoners?" The man on the end asked sharply. Kyle looked back at him.  
  
"Doesn't it make sense? More prisoners to chase meant more of a diversion." Kyle replied. "Don't tell me you couldn't figure that out on your own after you decided that I tried to kill that woman."  
  
The man glared at Kyle and sat quietly for a moment.  
  
"We deduced that was your intention in freeing the others. What doesn't make sense is that you'd try to kill the doctor. Was it in a fit of rage because she sounded the alarm before you could escape?" The man prodded.  
  
"I Didn't Do It!" Kyle shouted. "One of the others, I don't know his name. He had a knife! He went right for her."  
  
"And where did he get that knife?" The man replied. Kyle shook his head in frustration.  
  
"How am I supposed to know where he got it? He had it and he stabbed her. I went back to help her and now I'm here!" Kyle spat and then he folded his arms and looked at Raines again and said nothing more.  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
Feedback is Welcome!  
  
melvansickleearthlink.net 


	15. Study

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters and am just playing around with them.  
  
Study  
  
The solitary prisoners were led in chains to the library. Once inside they were each given their three sheets of paper and allowed to move about the room freely to do their work. Most of the men in solitary were interested in the law books. They were trying to find loopholes to help their cases, and with any luck, get a sentence reduction, or their freedom.  
  
Kyle was trying to stay alive. He'd been given no official information on the doctor's condition, but the little that he did hear was bad. His fellow prisoners and the guard staff were railroading him into a death sentence he didn't deserve, if she died.  
  
He could tell they were enjoying themselves aside from the fact that he didn't give them the reaction that they wanted to see. If he hadn't helped the woman at all, this would already be over with. He would be sitting in a cell in Block H waiting for the needle.  
  
Kyle leafed through the thick books, scanning statutes and looking for the information he needed. He barely noticed the man who sat down across from him until he'd grabbed the cover of one book and slammed it with a loud thudding sound in front of him.  
  
Kyle looked up at the man, angrily, and then looked about and saw they were being watched. As mad as he was, he wasn't going to risk another scene and give the prison officials any more ammunition.  
  
"What?" He asked calmly, belying the rage inside.  
  
"Not going to need that, kid." The older man said. Lines had long been worn through the man's face, and he studied Kyle with his pale green eyes. If he had to guess, he'd say the man was in his fifties.  
  
"Why is that?" Kyle asked.  
  
"I'd say you'll be back in your regular cell by the end of the week." The other man replied. Kyle shook his head and opened the book again.  
  
"Right," he said thumbing through the pages, "because you have inside knowledge like everyone else here."  
  
"I do." Sully replied. "But better 'goods' than anyone else here. You just tried to break out at the wrong time, kid. Word is that the shiv was handed to the guy who attacked the doctor, along with promise of a windfall and a sentence reduction."  
  
Kyle leveled his gaze with that of the older man's. His heart pounded in his chest as he realized that he really had been set up. Sully was an honest man. He'd never known this man to lie about anything. He'd been the one who'd told him about the infirmary when they'd met a year before. Sully had wound up in solitary afterward, for what Kyle could not remember.  
  
"Who else knows this?" Kyle said, trying not to sound upset and failing.  
  
"By now, I'd say everyone important who wasn't involved." Sully replied. "You're the guy who did Howie Willow?" He said pointing to his own nose.  
  
"Yeah." Kyle replied nodding. Sully nodded with him.  
  
"I wish I'd never told you 'bout that place. When I look at you, kid, I see a cold, unfeeling sonofabitch. What I want to know is, why you even bothered to help her. You don't seem like the kind of man who gives a rat's ass about anyone else. I'm sure it wasn't out of the kindness of your heart." Sully said.  
  
"I don't know." Kyle replied, remembering the woman lying bleeding on the floor and a whispered voice in the back of his head said, 'doctor'. The other prisoner nodded.  
  
"I can buy that." He said. "In any case, thank you." The man said and got up and walked across the room to another bookshelf without looking back leaving Kyle staring after him in confusion.  
  
"For what?" Kyle asked himself quietly.  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
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	16. Old Man

**Disclaimer:** Don't own, don't care.

**Old Man**

"Heh, I knew you didn't do it all along." Louie said stopping in front of Kyle's cell after he'd approached it five times and then changed his mind.

"Really?" Kyle asked skeptically. "Did you tell them that?" He said motioning to the guards at the other end of the corridor. Louie nodded his head.

"Yeah, kid. I know you've done some bad things, but I never had you pegged for a killer." Louie replied.

Kyle looked down at the blue notebook in his hands and the line he'd stopped writing on. He glanced at the words on the pages and then quickly snapped the book closed and set it aside on the bunk. He looked at the picture he'd drawn of Annie hanging above his bunk and then back at Louie.

"Is she..." he began and then stopped.

"Yeah, she's okay. She exonerated you. Hendricks isn't so lucky. I guess that asshole paid one of the guys to kill that woman. She fingered the guy and he sang like a canary. Needless to say, Hendricks isn't at this prison, and she won't be back." Louie said. Kyle nodded silently looking at the guard.

"Another prisoner in solitary told me things were looking up." Kyle said. "An older guy." Kyle laughed. "He actually thanked me, and I have no idea why." Louie nodded.

"Probably Brookes." He said.

"Who?" Kyle replied.

"The doctor's father." Louie replied looking grave. Kyle looked at him astonished and Louie left him that way.

TBC...


	17. Brookes

**Disclaimer:** Don't own, don't care.

**Brookes**

"I didn't hear you knock." Sully said, his pale green eyes glancing at Kyle.

"You don't have a door." Kyle replied and glanced around at the photographs hanging on Sully's wall. He took one and held it in his hand, looking at the image of the young girl it bore.

She stood on a pier looking off to the side of the frame. It was sunset and she stood largely in the shadow of a lighthouse painted with diagonal black and white stripes. There were palms and tall trees twisted and bent by the sea wind. Her red hair blazed like fire in the late day's light as it was blown with wind about her face. A peaceful, serene smile played on her lips.

"Is this your daughter?" Kyle asked quietly. Sully glanced at him and nodded.

"Yep, that's my Davina. She was six when that was taken. Right before I ended up in here." Sully replied. "You got any kids?"

"No." Kyle shook his head. Nor would he ever have children, yet another consequence of his upbringing at the Centre and the actions he'd taken upon escape. Kyle shook the thought away.

"How long have you been here?" Kyle asked.

"For life, like you." Sully replied. Kyle glanced at him and then at another photo.

"She's all grown up now. Shame is she grew up visiting her old man in this Godforsaken place." Sully said gesturing about. "Every week her whole life."

The familiarity of the young woman sunk into Kyle. He held the photograph and then thought of another face, and her voice.

"_If we keep meeting like this, then people will talk."_

The woman who wore Annie's perfume and who had the bedside manner of Edna was Sully's daughter.

"She's well on her way to becoming a bitter old spinster." Sully said sounding displeased. "I suppose I am partly to blame. Had I not been locked up, she never would have spent all those years with men like us."

"Does she still visit you?" Kyle asked, glancing at Sully.

"Her visits have picked back up since, the incident." Sully replied narrowing his eyes at Kyle.

"Is she alright?" Kyle asked quietly, suddenly feeling remorse the way he should have when Sully had confronted him in the library.

"She'll always have the scars." Sully replied.

TBC...


	18. Personal

**Disclaimer:** Don't own, don't care.

**Personal**

"Single white female, thirty-four years old, likes reading, the movies, long walks on the beach. Not into head games, hmm, I don't think this is the one for you, John." Louie said reading from the personal ads in the paper.

Kyle shook his head again and wondered why Louie had developed this recent fascination with reading him these ads.

"I don't think I could walk with her on the beach either." Kyle replied.

Louie gave him a wry grin and ran his finger down the page.

"Yeah, you've got that CJ writing to you now anyway." Louie grinned and began reading another ad to himself before chuckling.

"Who is this CJ, anyway?" Louie asked.

"An old friend." Kyle replied. He glanced over at the pile of letters from Blue Cove, Delaware.

"From where? NASA? Vegas? P&G?" Louie replied wryly. Kyle shook his head.

"Why do you keep reading those ads to me?" Kyle asked.

"Don't you know about those desperate women who meet prisoners? Don't you know about conjugal visits?" Louie replied. Kyle flushed slightly and looked away.

"I just think it's funny that all of a sudden you started that." Kyle said. He looked back at Louie and saw that he looked a little uncomfortable. He smiled slightly at making the guard uneasy.

"A friend of mine recently married." Louie replied. "You go to weddings and you think that maybe there's someone out there for you too."

"Who was she?" Kyle asked. Louie looked at him surprised.

"What? You a mind reader now?" Louie asked. Kyle chuckled.

"Someone you had feelings for and she married someone else. That's too bad, Lou." Kyle replied.

"Yeah, too bad." Louie said and then looked back at the ads. "How's this? Single white female, twenty-six years old, professional. Likes music and romantic dinners. Doesn't like smokers. Uh, I guess that rules out you and me both." Louie chuckled and then folded the paper closed.

TBC...


	19. Hate is a Feeling

**Disclaimer:** Don't own them, don't want to.

Hate is a Feeling 

"Why did you help that woman?" Raines hissed across the table.

"She didn't deserve to die."

"Why were you trying to escape?"

Silence.

"Why were you trying to escape?"

A fist slammed against the table.

"I am trying to find my family."

"You're family is dead. You have only Centre and myself. That's all you've ever had or ever will."

"I've been told my parents are still alive."

"Who told you?" Raines glared at him angrily.

She did.

"Annie."

"You lie, and lies are a sign of weakness."

A glare.

"You are weak. This place has made you weak. The outside has made you weak."

"I am not weak!"

"You are. That's why you didn't finish your mission. You failed because you were weak."

"The Others were weak! They didn't have what it took, but I did. I decide who lives or dies!"

"But you ran, and when you ran you showed your weakness, your fear."

"I am Not afraid! I am Not weak!"

"Why did you run?"

"I had to find my family."

"Your family is dead."

"No they're not, my family is alive, and my parents are alive."

"I am your family now."

Eyes narrow.

"You are Not my family!"

A knock sounded on the door and both men looked at the small window.

"Time's up!" The guard called through the speaker in the wall.

In the Centre all the walls spoke, they all watched, they all listened.

"You are my property, never forget that." Raines hissed as the wheels of his oxygen tank squealed as they turned.

Kyle was returned to his cell by the guards. Upon his arrival he pulled the blue notebook out from behind the toilet / sink and sat on his bunk, with the notebook in his lap. He sat contemplatively for a quarter hour before he opened the book and began to write.

_I decide who lives or dies._

_I decide who lives or dies._

_I decide who lives or dies._

_I decide who lives or dies._

_I decide who lives or dies._

_I decide who lives or dies._

_I decide who lives or dies._

_I decide who lives or dies._

_I decide who lives or dies._

_I decide who lives or dies._

_I decide who lives or dies._

_I decide who lives or dies._

_I decide who lives or dies._

_I decide who lives or dies._

TBC...


End file.
